THE TERRIBLE SECRET OF PLANET OMEGA!
'''Summary: '''When a distress call comes from an isolated mining colony, a team of Autobots goes to investigate! But little do they know, Dreadwing is hot on their heels! SEND HELP. DISASTER EMINENT. So is the signal sent out from the mining station on PLANET OMEGA! It's a simple signal- no encoding, nothing fancy...just a simple morse-code message, followed by the coordinates of this back-of-the-backwater planet. Here's to hoping it hasn't fallen on deaf audio sensors! Clutch pilots a tiny Autobot auxilliary shuttle (unarmed and virtually powerless except for the handy +meetme drives) in the direction of the distress signal. He looks back at whatever Autobots have managed to scramble aboard before they had to launch. "Anybody know anything about this PLANET OMEGA place...?" Dreadwing flies through the cold darkness, a predator of the lonely vastness of space and unfortunately for those that sent out the distress call one that basks in pain and suffering. Changing course the gloomship speeds towards the unknowing planet, whatever danger they faced has now tripled. Impactor is seated towards the rear of the craft, and until this moment hasn't said a blasted thing. Why you might ask? He's pissed, and for all the wrong reasons. Just because Impactor is a Drill Tank, DOES NOT mean he's qualified to assist on a distress call from a mining facility. But I guess orders are orders, doesn't mean you have to like the blasted things. "It's an antimatter mining colony that sent a simple SOS morse code." the Wrecker leader states gruffly, to no one in particular. Suddenly, a face pops up on the Autobot shuttle's monitor! (Broadcasting on an easily listened in-on frequency, one might add) "Hello? This is Doctor Praxis- chief administrator of Planet Omega...are you here to help us?" the doughy, purple-skinned alien with neon-green goggles seems quite relived at the fact. "Thank the stars you're here! You can land your first shuttle at docking bay A- and the second one at docking bay B. Hurry! There's little time to waste!" - There was good news and bad news for Eject this evening. The good news was that it was a light sports night. The bad news was that he was missing his new favorite show, 'Joe Buck Live' on HBO. Messing with his console, the casette slams his small blue fist on the control panel. "This stinks! The instant replay box isn't picking up the last play!! Arrgh!!" Hearing Impactor speak, Eject swivels around in his seat, "Yea....talk about an away game. We're probably gonna have enough mileage to eat two energon meals after the game's over." Seeing that his show isn't going to be picked up this far out, Eject sighs and initializes his communications systems. "Alright. I'm powering up the team radio. Let's see if we can intercept a pass here." With that, the Autobot leaps into the air, and falls down in the form of a large casette. With a few *beeps* and *whistles*, Eject starts making his check of the comms. As the purple figure appears on the viewscreen, Eject emits, "See?? This is why you brought the best fullback! I can run a play with my eyes closed!" Faster than you can say "Touchdown!" Eject drops down into a blue casette tape. Clutch looks at Eject, then glances at Impactor to see if Clutch is the only one confused by the casette's manner of speaking. But he got the gist of what Eject said, and then guides the shuttle where he was directed. "Roger, first Autobot shuttle beginning docking procedures." He doesn't seem to register yet that there should only be one Autobot shuttle. Impactor nods at the little mini-bot, chuckling to himself. He makes his way haunched over through the small hallway towards the front of the deck, glancing at the vid-screens and communications equipment. "First Autobot shuttle... ...I didn't know about a second?" he remarks cooly, taking a knee at the navigational hub. The large Autobot tries delicately to use the smaller keyboard, but his large oversized fingers don't oblige very well. "Primus, you'd think they'd make these things universal!" The keyboard makes a KRRUUUNNCH sound as Impactor accidentally breaks it. "Oh Slaggit!" Dreadwing powers his engines to full as he silently listens to the openly broadcast transmission heading for the second landing bay as fast as possible in order to remain hidden for now from the others that speed to the miner's aid. "Surprise, shock, terror, we shall find them and then leave them marooned on this doomed planet, their suffering an exquisite parting gift for us." From the cockpit the excited voice of Hi-Test replies, "Oh yeah this is going to be great!" - Scanning the frequencies out in this area space is a little easier. With nothing more than a space truck stop around, it's quite easy to pick out any transmissions of interest. "Yo guys! the purple dude just said there are two Autobot shuttles? Did someone say we were bringing two school busses to this football game?" Spotting Impactor crunch through the keyboard with his larger fingers, Eject pops out a small connection device and connects it to the computer in front of him. "Don't worry about it Impactor. I'll take a look at the weather forecast before kickoff....hmmm...looks like we got another team bus nearby! Unless those guys are playing for us...I think we better stay conservative with our play calling here." The docking bays...well, that's a kind word for them. They're really just open platforms, seperate from the main mining facility, and covered with the requisite super-strong forcefields! The tractor beams and other signals will guide Decepticon and Autobot alike into position, even while the Purple Doctor Praxis continues to look worried. "We've little time! Please, hurry!" Clutch winces at the keyboard's destruction, but shrugs it off. Guess it wouldn't do much good if it's too delicate to be typed on. Hmm, Impactor wasn't using that harpoon-hand for typing, was he...? Clutch shakes his head huriedly and finishes the docking procedure. "There! We're connected...I'm heading for the airlock." He pauses, gazes at Eject, then looks back at Impactor. "Conservative...right!" Then he pops the shuttle's hatch and leaps out. Impactor looks from the mangled wreck of keyboard to Eject to Clutch. "Of all bots, why me?" he silently remarks to himself, unfastening his right hand and attaching the harpoon. One or two steps leads him to the hatch, he rests a hand on the bay door. "Well, what are ya waitin' fer 'Ject? Get your aft planetside!" Impactor semi-shouts, tucking the spare hand away in a compartment. Popping up into his robot form, Eject isn't too far behind Impactor and Clutch. "This is my favorite part of the game...when we run out from the big plastic helmet!! Go Autobots Go!!" Although he's not the biggest of the trio, Eject sure does have some speed. Catching up with Impactor and Clutch, the mini-bot slows down a bit as he looks up, "So guys...um...what's the game plan? Are we going offense or defense first? Shirts or skins?" - Popping up into his robot form, Eject isn't too far behind Impactor and Clutch. "This is my favorite part of the game...when we run out from the big plastic helmet!! Go Autobots Go!!" Although he's not the biggest of the trio, Eject sure does have some speed. Catching up with Impactor and Clutch, the mini-bot slows down a bit as he looks up, "So guys...um...what's the game plan? Are we going offense or defense first? Shirts or skins?" In the blink of an optic, this blue casette pops up into the form of Eject! Dreadwing angles his trajectory and lands with surprising skill and agility that is rarely seen in spacecraft, being fully alive rather than just a vehicle is quite an advantage. Coming to a full stop the cockpit opens and two armoured men start making their way to the airlock. As they walk off the cockpit closes and then the starcraft breaks in half, two complete halves in fact, each continuing to change until two stand where one once landed. The Brothers of doom and gloom have arrived in this time of peril perhaps they are part of it or merely dark messengers of the terror to come. Combat: Dreadwing dissolves into its component Dreadwind and darkwing. The sight that greets the newcomers is...not pleasant. There is much that can go wrong, much that can break in a mining facility like this one...and it'd seem that a great deal of it already HAS. And what isn't broken looks like it may be about to. Wires dangle from open access panels, various liquids are spattered on the floor and walls...and, of course, there's the bodies- various creatures- both mechanoid and organic, are cattered about- either with laser blasts coring them through- or some appear to have been beaten to death by some massively strong creature! "You'll forgive me if I can't meet you personally-" says Dr. Praxis- various monitor screens (the ones that still work, anyway) all broadcast his face simotaneously. "I've sealed myself in the control room...I had to! One of the scientists...Transom- a cybertonian, like yourself...he went insane! Slaughtered everyone! I'm the only one left..." And then, behind the Autobots, a forcefield flickers into place, sealing them off from their shuttle! The same occurs to the Decepticons as soon as they walk into the station proper as well- sealing them off from one of the few places on the station where they might have the room to transform properly. "Saftey precautions." Dr. Praxis explains, "I cannot allow Transom to escape!" Clutch pushes experimentally against the force field, then jerks his hand back at the crackle of energy discharge. Yeah, it's solid all right. Looks like this 'Transom' guy isn't the only one who's short a few transistors. Clutch turns to the closest screen, looking at Dr. Praxis' image. "What did Transom look like? Did he wear any...you know, symbols? Emblems?" Clutch almost wants to put a hand over his own Autobot symbol, slightly worried that Praxis will point at it and say 'just like that'. - "Holy field conditions! The last time I saw a game like this was in the Mud Bowl back in 1993! This place is in shambles!" Looking at the screen, Eject watches Praxis speak his mind before he chimes in with Clutch, "Did he play for the red team? purple team? Or maybe he's a free agent?" Taking a moment to look around, Eject doesn't spot anyone else in the vicinity yet, but he doesn't take any chances. Spotting a console on the fritz, the Autobot walks up to it and begins tapping at it. "Let's see if I can bring up some internal sensors. So we can get an idea of any incoming blitzes." Hi-Test yells at the nearest working monitor, "You trap us here and this Transom guy won't be the only one you're going to fear, i'm going to sit you down and talk with my partner!" Dreadwind look's at the destruction the dead and possibly dying scattered around and feels somewhat at home, "The end, it will be like this, we all head towards our end this place, will be Praxis', of those that enter here none shall leave unchanged, those that escape will wish they hadn't bothered to." Impactor surveys the destruction... ...a perfect page out of the Wrecker playbook, to put it to Eject's likening. Suddenly the forcefield clicks on behind him, and the Wrecker leader spins around to face shiny bubble goodness. "Crap... ...don't like that bit, not at all." Making a quick check, Impactor assures himself that all weapon systems are on and at full functionability... ...no use running into this firefight half afted if you can help it. He let's Clutch finish antagonizing the scientist type before proceeding with some caution. Darkwing silently watches his Brother the annoying germ he got bonded to, then the other one; he hadn't even bothered dealing with the one he got linked with while he was unconscious; and really doesn't care to. Right now the grim blue Decepticon was focused on the 'promise' he made back before they left. Looking around at the destruction, and mention of thsi Transom guy it might be the perfect place to keep it without people suspecting him, well other then his Brother. You paged Impactor with 'Sounds good!' Gears has arrived. "Er, I rarely pay attention to such trivial matters...Transom is...well...he's dangerous, that's what! He must be destroyed!" Meanwhile, near the Decepticons...yet another monitor flickers to life- albiet on a different frequency. "Ah, you are Decepticons, yes? I shall make this simple-" and the camera cuts to an absolutely massive pile of energon cubes. "Eliminate the cybertonian Transom, and this is a mere fraction of what you shall recieve as a reward." Dr. Praxis nods, adjusting his goggles. "That is, unless those Autobots beat you to it..." Gears had stumbled out of the Autobot shuttle, probably mostly unnoticed. Such is the lot of the minibots. Trying to keep from getting trampled underfoot by the larger Autobots, he grumbles softly. "Escaped Cybertronian nutjob scientist? Isn't that wonderful. How much do you want to bet he's got some nasty surprises waiting for us?" Darkwing actually chuckles as he takes notice of the germ on the moniter. "Heh, this guy thinks were the typical Decepticon brutes." Darkwing says over his radio to his brother. "Oh don't worry." Darkwing says outloud to Praxis. "By time we leave, I asure you'll have no more worries." The Dour jet says with a sinster chuckle. "He must be 'destroyed', huh?" Clutch repeats. He checks on a few of the unfortunate bodies in the area, then checks for ways deeper into the facility. "Don't worry, we'll take care of him." We'll 'take care' of him the Autobot way, Clutch thinks to himself. Meaning with words. Lots of words. Ooooh yeah the Autobot way features a lot of words...it's a good thing there's not a 'talking' event in the Olympics, because the Autobots would clean up. "But hey, why don't you give us a hint here, Doctor...where can we find him?" - Clicking at the computer panel, Eject tries to power up the console, but it explodes before he can get anything sorted out. "Blast! The game's not going to be on satellite I guess." Eject is about to continue blabbering away with his sports jargon, before he freezes, receiving a transmission on his l33t communication systems. "Bots! I just picked off a Purple team pass!! Seems like this purple guy just told the Cons on *this* station that they'll get some energon meals if they can sack the quarterback before we do! Looks like we have company!!!" Dreadwind sighs as he stares at the enticement, of course he doesn't care for it or secret messages and as always speaks his mind openly, even if others wish he wouldn't. "There are few indeed that last long enough to spread word of the what is coming, they are the fortunate ones, those that are finally free from all suffering, relax Praxis your suffering is almost over." Hi-Test's eyes widen, "Hey now that's what i call a reward, this Transom guy doesn't stand a chance, come on Dreadwind move it, with luck we'll take some Autobots out as well." Impactor smirks at Clutch's negociating tactics, and intercedes himself quickly. "Listen Doctor whateveryournamewas, you want us to help... ...we're gonna need some intel pronto. I suggest you send any available files to Eject's terminal ASAP." The only purple Autobot puts his back to the screen, assessing his troops. Great, two Intel types.. ...Clutch and me... ...where the hell are my Wreckers when there's WRECKING TO BE DONE! "Clutch, your taking point... Gears, cover our rear... Eject, your in the middle with me after we get some intel on this frackin' situation." And then, just to prove the Decepticons wrong...lasers blast from the shadows! A few random bolts streak their way- hastily aimed, it'd seem. There's movement- and then the telltale transformation sound, and a minibot-sized cyber-jeep speeds from its hiding place, down the hall! And towards the autobots. "THERE HE IS!" Dr. Praxis cries. "Destroy him!" "Covering rear...yeah, ok," Gears says, "At least I'm not covering the rear for a herd of elephants." He takes position and looks around warily. Then he spots the evil jeep! "Uh-oh..." - Eject may love sports, but he also follows orders. Hopping into rank and file, the mini-bot takes his place along Impactor. "Let's kick some purple team butt! We gotta get this Transom guy and help our fans here on this planet." Withdrawing his blaster from subspace, the Autobot fixes his tactical visor on the hallway up ahead. Just as Gears spots the incoming jeep, so does Eject. "We've got a tail-gater on the run!! Here it comes!!" Clutch is moving towards the hall, a heavy-duty laser pistol in one hand and a long curving saber with ornate (and extraneous) work decorating the hilt in the other. He pauses at the sight of the mini-jeep and Praxis' cries. "Hey -- hey! Halt where you are!" he calls out, raising the pistol uneasily. His first impression is that this could be some sort of long-lost minibot. Small, ground vehicle, zipping down the hall without running people over or hauling some kind of mobile artillery...all the signs of an Autobot, not a Decepticon. "Hold it Transom! We're Autobots!" Dreadwind is caught by surprise, not by the laser blasts but by the fact that they actually managed to miss him, that can't be a good sign he watches as the jeepabot speeds off. "Another assassination attempt fails, it never ends." Hi-Test looks at the jeep and then Dreadwind, "Hey move it we could really do with that prize." Having said that Hi-Test leaps into the air and transforms merging with his partner and now safely hidden away, what a coincidence. Hi-Test has left. Dreadwind takes Hi-Test. Darkwing says, "Don't worry. I'm sure there will be plenty others waiting to take you out brother." Darkwing says as he watches the hasty shots fly wide. "Let just hurry up and get this over with so that mouthpeice of yours will shut up."" "Autobots?" Transom says, "Thank primus!" And he transforms in front of them- the poor bot is wide-opticed, and quite damaged...but still very active, it'd seem- he's got a gun in place of his left hand- and he happens to raise that gun...towards the Autobots? *BLAST!* And with a laser shot, he shatters the nearest monitor. "We don't have much time- there's Decepticons on my tail!" Impactor gauges the incoming threat, pushing Eject to the side as he prepares himself for the oncoming tiny minibot Cybertronian vehicle. "Brace yourself Clutch, he could be picking up ramming speed..." Suddenly Transom transforms before them, speaking in a somewhat pleasant tone. With the monitor shot to crap, the Wrecker leader is somewhat hesitant to hear the other side of the story... ...but his interest is piqued. And of course, if it's not a good story... ...he can still WRECK 'em afterwards. "Hold it a sec, just what the frakin' 'ell is goin' on here?" - "Hey! He's one of us...a red team guy!! Go Bots go!!" Focusing his blaster down the hall way, Eject drops to one knee, aiming at the area of where the Decepticons should be coming from. "If Transom is right, then we're going to have to make a goal line stand here pretty quick! I'm locked and loaded!" Running his tactical visor over the hallway, the mini-bot can see that there's not much room to transform. "If we don't get ready and hold our ground, it's going to be the running of the bulls here!!" "Just can't trust em anymore," Gears mutters. "Mad Scientists, always telling stories." He groans at the mention of Decepticons. "Now why am I not surprised?" Motivated by his increased energy levels and by Darkwing urging him on so they can leave, not that he ever really shuts up, Dreadwind trudges after Transom. "Time enough for silence when we are offline permanently Darkwing, when finally we are parted for the last time." His seemingly slow loping movement hiding his actual speed, he raises an arm and fires a single shot, who knows maybe he'll get lucky and hit someone important or even the guy he's after. Clutch flinches into a half-crouch at the close-call shot. He points his own pistol back at Transom, out of reflex, but holds his fire when he hears the monitor getting blown up somewhere behind him. When Impactor starts talking, Clutch risks a glance over his shoulder to see what the shot did. He slowly straightens up, then almost reluctantly moves his weapon so that it's not pointing at Transom any more, but down the hall behind the minibot. Clutch takes a few steps that way, to a position where he can cover that end of the hall. "Don't worry, I'm listening too," he asides at Transom without looking. "This ought to be good." "I don't care about silence. I just want that fleshling of yours to never speak again. Maybe hook can see about removing his vocalizer..." Darkwing muses slightly as he follows behind Dreadwind, half using him for a sheild in the small hallways. He's just got to make sure that his brother is in decent enough condtion to transform and combine so they can get off this rejected set for a Syfy oringal movie "It's a long story, but-" *PEW!* Dreadwind's shot strikes home, burning a scorch mark in Transom's back! He staggers forward and topples to his knees. "...Planet Omega...is a weapon. You've got to stop it!" he gasps out- and he proceeds to pull a computer disk out, foisting the energon-spattered info-container on...Gears! And that's about when Dr. Praxis gets his monitor online. "Autobots! You've hurt him! Quickly, before he does that change-into-a-car thing! Finish him!" Fairway says, "How fares the expedition, friends, if I may ask?" >:( Gears says, "It's going wierd." Fairway says, "Oh yes? How so?" - Watching the blaster bolt fly from the darkness down the hallway, Eject rises up and heads over to a wall panel. "This stadium needs to get lit up for a night game!" After a few key strokes, the hallway begins to power up in sections. It'll only be a matter of time before the source of the blast is revealed. "Bots! Whatever we're gonna go. I think we better run the 2-minute offense! If Transom is right, then we've walked right into a statue of liberty play!" Turning his attention back down the hall way, Eject levels his blaster once more, waiting to give as much help as a mini-bot can. Clutch's expression hardens and he fires a few return laser blasts, blindly down the hallway - there's no chance he can hit the Decepticons since he hasn't even seen them yet, but maybe the shots will hit somewhere near and make them stop firing and take cover for a second. Or maybe not...sometimes Clutch just likes to shoot his guns. ZAP! ZAP! ZAAAP! Out of the corner of his mouth Clutch mutters, "Somebody get Transom!" But he probably doesn't mean 'get' in the same way the good Dr. Praxis does. Clutch says, "This mining facility...we just met an Autobot who claims it's actually being used to turn the planet into some kind of weapon!" Dreadwind continues along fully aware what Darkwing is doing, he's been used as a shield by the lowest like Hinder all the way up to top brass like Cyclonus. Dreadwind knows that no one cares what happens to him in the slightest as long as they're alright, he is also surprised when his first shot strikes home he had fully expected it to hit some cabling starting a chain reaction that destroys half the base and him along with it. Then the worst thing happens the lights start to come on dispelling the darkness, "Oh great this can't be good, the light will enable the freshly repowered automated defences to target us accurately we will be shot to pieces before we can react." Having said that Dreadwind however makes no move to hide himself should he actually be right. "What I'd like to know is why this Praxis guy wants Transom slagged," Gears pipes up, "Seems awfully suspicious, doesn't it?" He suddenly finds himself holding a container. "Whoa," he says, grabbing secure hold of it and standing there like an idiot. "Someone want to tell me what the frag is going on?" "We're not destroying anyone YET!" Impactor shouts at the monitor. The blast to Transom's back isn't completely unexpected, but still surprising. "Clutch ... engage the Decepticons!" Big 'n Purple grabs up the little cybertronian and carries him back over to Eject's position, propping him against a wall. He glances at Gears and the disk, then back to Transom "I need answers and I need 'em fast! Eject, find out whatever the 'ell is on that fraggin' disk. Gears, assist Clutch if he needs the backup." Darkwing tries to keep behind Dreadwind as the shots come down the hall. He lets out a soft chuckle as Dreadwind is hit dead on. "I doubt that, Brother. This Doctor seems to want to take out that minibot, which if there are any defences; should end up being on our side. Not that we aren't slag regardless, as we do seem to be outnumbered." Darkwing replies and takes aim to fire on Transom; he might as well start by taking out the weakest of the pack, for as long as his Dread-sheild holds out. Fairway says, "An Autobot on Planet Omega? What would be the purpose of a weapon so far out in space? Also, are they using the XC296 Tri-Helical Flighting Auger Bit - I've always wanted to see one of those." "No! No!" Dr. Praxis shrieks at Impactor. "Don't listen to him! He's insane! His positronic brain simply could not comprehend the greatness I am capable of!" Oh dear. Transom, in the meanwhile, is hauled about, even as lasers begin to blast here and there! Someone's laser goes *SPANG!* off of a pressurized gas pipe, and with a *fsssssh!* the hallway is half-flooded with gaseous coolant! - Rising from his kneeling position, Eject scampers over to Gears, "Give me the football! Coach says I gotta take it and check the laces!" As the gaseous coolant fills the hallway, the mini-bot taps at his helm. "Uh oh! Looks like we're kicking some dust up. I'm switching optic filters. We gotta be careful in this." Initializing his internal data system, a small disk drive opens up on Eject's chest. "Alright Gears, let's get the game going here. I'll take the handoff and you do some blocking for me." Moving to behind the group, the mini-bot hopes his position will give him time to access the data on the disk. Long distance to Eject: Grimlock shall page you SCIENCE FACTS. "Ya know what Purpleface, neither can mine!" Impactor jests, leveling his pistol at the monitor and letting a blast fly. The screen instantly shatters, falling to the ground with a *THUD* here or *SLASS* there... then the gaseous coolant floods the hallway. "Eject, I needed that data last cycle!" he coughs, trying to mask his face from the noxious fumes that seem to be filling up the hall quickly. *THWAP!* Impactor attempts an open handed palm slap across Transom's face to bring him back around for a moment's interrogation. Clutch raises his voice over the sound of lasers in the background. "Don't know what an X-whatever is, and your guess is as good as ours about the weapon. We just -- frak!" Clutch says, "Somebody hit a pipe! Some kind of gas flooding the hall - quick, what could this be?!" Fairway says, "Friend Clutch, this gas is probably coolant. My recommendation would be to avoid prolonged contact." Gears of course lets Eject take the disk. Now he's ready to help Clutch. The football metaphors he fortunately comprehends, so he rushes towards where Clutch is...or where he last saw him. Coolant in the air makes visibility the pits. "This coolant is going to get in my joints," he complains, as he does his best impersonation of a linebacker. Dreadwind is struck a couple of times but other than turning his body from the impact it doesn't halt his advance, it's one of the reasons why he's so feared he just never seems to stop, moaning or advancing, it's almost as if he can't feel pain. The coolant gasses filling the area are cold but then Dreadwind is built for space so it's not all that bothering to him even as a coating of ice builds up on him. It does however make him seem even more like an approaching B-movie monster as he is partialy concealed. "Give him up Autobots, time is short, there is nothing but pain and suffering here and it will all end so very very soon." Drawing his thermal melters he blasts down the hallway, the combination of hot and cold could well prove disasterous for whatever gets struck. Clutch backs away as gas comes billowing his way. He doesn't risk another shot, afraid it'll set something off and blow them all back to Cybertron. Instead, he hefts his saber and peers around into the vapor, trying to spot any shapes moving around him, and more importantly anything coming from the Decepticons' direction. Fairway says, "Depending on the size of bores involved in this operation and where you are in relation to the power systems, the coolant could be sulfur hexaflouride, nitrogen, hyrdogen or helium." - *Clllllrccckkk* *Clllrrccckk* It sounds kind of like the dial-up connection sound, but Eject *is* an 80's casette tape afterall. As soon as Gears gives the Autobot the "football", the intel specialist goes to work processing the data. After a few seconds, Eject drops his metallic jaw. "Talk about Doomsday Defense!! According to this data that Transom has....well it sounds like he's telling the truth. That Doctor guy is trying to use this planet as a huge anti-matter gun and he's looking for a target!!" Darkwing watches Dreadwind's continued advance, He'd never admit it verbally but there were some thing he really did respect about his brother, such as his ability to continue on regardless. "Yes, Just give the mini-bot to us, and we will take care of both him and the 'good' Doctor's problems." Darkwing says as he picks up the cassette's announcement. A weapon like that really could cuase some advanced suffering in the universe. Maybe he could see about targeting Earth before this was over. "Yagh!" Transom doesn't react well to the slapping- thinking himself under attack, he whips his gun arm up and starts blasting away randomly! "You'll never take me alive, Praxis!" he declares- only mildly calming down as he recognizes Impactor. Meanwhile, Praxis' face pops up on an unshattered monitor between the 'bots and 'cons. "It's too late now! There's nothing you can do- my weapon...my CREATION...within hours, it'll be in position to fire, cutting a swath of destruction across the galaxy! BWA HA HA!" Impactor sighs, then he finally manages to bring Transom around... ...and he's greeted by laser fire! Then again, he was slapping him in the face pretty hard... ...Impactor also has a mug only a mother could love. "Okay, any clue just how the hell we stop this thing from NOT DOING THAT!?!?" he gruffs towards Eject, the fumes starting to take a toll on his system already. Clutch spots a rapidly growing glow in the cloud of gas directly ahead of him, and raises his sword instinctively. This puts the weapon right in line with the thermal melter blast. It saves Clutch from getting the hot and cold treatment, but only by subjecting his saber itself to this instead. The sword hilt suddenly gets scorchingly hot, and the blade begins to steam and sizzle. "Unn!" Clutch cries, jerking back a bit. "Whatever we're doing, we'd better do it fast!" he shouts over his shoulder. "These guys are packing some serious heat!" The Grumpy Minibot sighs. "A weapon that could destroy the Galaxy? How do we stop it? Do we just trash this place?" He pulls out his pistol and is ready to shoot, as soon as the coolant fog clears. No sense accidentally shooting Clutch. - Peering over to Impactor, Eject goes over the data on his internal systems as he thinks up a solution. "Well...it seems that this mine work has been opening up a huge hole so that this crazy doctor can use the planet as a gun. All we gotta do is reverse the process. If we can go through the playbook and look for the perfect audible...the doc won't have a gun to shoot with his run and shoot offense." As a few blasts of incoming fire sizzle past their positions, Eject drops to one knee again as he looks to Impactor. "Well that's the scoop coach! What play are we going with? We don't have much time before 4th down comes up!" "The weapon...it can only be fired once." Transom coughs through the coolant cloud. "If you can set off the reaction before the planet rotates into position...it'll fire into empty space! Find a way to set off the antimatter!" Dreadwind really should say something to anyone using him as a shield but what would be the point they'd only berate and possibly physically attack him for bothering them with his issues. Taking a short pause in his slow advance Dreadwind responds to Praxis, "You are right, there's is nothing anyone can do to stop the pain, the suffering, the death. Perhaps now you realise that you will see that your struggle to be free is almost at an end." The cry from Clutch brings Dreadwind back to the here and now, "Heat and time are not your enemy Autobot, the cold and dark is what you truely fear and here there is no light to save you. The only way to escape is to give up your new friend, your time will come later." - Eject chimes back in, "Oh yea...what Transom said too!!" "I don't know what's more annoying, loudmouthed Autobots or Mad scientists." Darkwing glowers as his optics dim, hearing Praxis' words. "So just exterminating the pests seems to be out of the question; maybe we can stall the Autobots till this thing fires, since stopping it will be useless anyway." Darkwing suggests to Dreadwind as he pulls out his electro-kinectic blasters and fires on the Wrecker, hoping that the purple Autobot will go into a rage and forgoet about any form of logic for stopping this place. Impactor is struck with the electro-kinectic blaster fire on the side of the face plate, sending his head reeling to the side and the momentum carries him down to one knee. "GYUAH!" he manages to let out before propping his harpoon on the ground. Quickly regaining whatever composure he usually has at any given time, the Commando looks at Transom and then to Eject. "Take the others, stop this thing...I'll hold these pieces of filth for as long as I can." Standing up, Impactor gives the cassettebot a quick salute... ..then charges down the hall. "WRECK AND RULE!!" he blares, firing a shot or two from his shoulder-mounted laser cannon. *FWPOOMPH!* - "Aye aye Coach Lombardi!! We'll use the 28 sweep and they'll never know what hit 'em!" Turning to Transom and Gears, Eject motions down another hallway that heads away from their current position. "Come on Transom, that data disk says the mine shaft control room ™ is down this way. You lead the way pal and we'll be right behind you like the Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders!" Gears mutters as he follows Eject. "Just our luck, we'll get there too late and the whole Universe will implode," he says dejectedly, "Or worse yet, the Decepticons will catch up. And then those two Emo Jets will have us wishing we were deactivated." "Control room...right...get in!" Transom says- and forces himself to transform to his cyber-jeep mode! He soon speeds down the corridors- coming to a halt at a large, welded shut bulkhead. With a monitor next to it. "Fools!" Praxis taunts, "This door is triple reinforced durillium! There's no way you can get in here without military grade hardware!" Darkwing seeing Impactor charge at him, mutters "Definatly loudmouthed Autobots..." to himself before he looks to Dreadwind... Should he let Dreadwind stay here and get pumbled, or try to take the Wrecker on by himself and let the unstoppable juggernuat of angnst continue after the others. While he's still got that Promise to keep, he'd rather see this weapon go off. "Dreadwind, I'll take the Wrecker. You go and make sure the others come to accept their coming end as they should." Darkwing says and rushes to meet the Autobot head on, powering up his fist for his silent killer attack, hoping to land a crippling blow on autobot badly in need of anger management. Clutch is backing slowly out of the coolant cloud, nearly tripping over Gears. "Sorry," he mutters off-handedly, before following. "Let's get moving Gears...you cover me, and I'll cover you. Got it?" He turns back and fires a small ballistic pistol he produced from somewhere, hoping it'll be harder to trace the source of the shot through the cloud. Then he skips a few steps down the hall, hoping Gears will send a few shots down the hall this time. Dreadwind is struck by one of Impactor's shots and this time he buckles, but somehow he manages to right himself and keep on going, maybe it's the urging from Darkwing or maybe the internal surge as Hi-Test boosts his energy levels. "You cannot run Autobots your time grows ever shorter give in and face the truth there is nothing you can do to change existence, there is only suffering." Dreadwind attempts to get past the one on one fight and get after the other smaller bots. Impactor transforms right before impact, revving his large drills straight into Darkwing's path. "The only place I'm running is for a FRONT END COLLISION!" Yeah, he'll probably be a sitting duck... ...but there's WRECKING to be had, dodging is for pussies! <> Folding down upon himself, Impactor transforms back into his Drill Tank mode. - Peering at the heavily armored control room, Eject looks puzzled for a second. He takes a second look and then just starts chuckling a bit. "Haha! Heavily armored control room?? Geesh! I guess you forgot to take this out of the blue-prints when you made your game-breaking weapon??" It's a little taller than he is, but Eject tip-toes on his metallic feet to reach for the control room's door handle. With a simple twist of his wrist, voila! The door is open! (Oh how door handles can move plots along) Darkwing winces and groans as the drill cuts a gash along his side as the Wrecker hits him head on as he slams his fist into the Wrecker's hip, with the strenght he built up for a more crippling attack. "This all you got? I've beaten Wreckers single handedly in the past!" He gloats with an evill grin. Well, Wrecker. And it was Whirl. But still, he beat him without help. Dreadwind manages to get past the Wrecker as he clashes with Darkwing, his pace increasing as he searches for the other Autobots and the soon to be dead mech, "Running is pointless Autobots, there is no way out even if you somehow manage to stop the device you will give us what we came for." "Yeah, got it," Gears says, and fires some shots to drive back the Decepticons. "STICK IT IN YOUR AUDIO RECEPTOR!" he yells at Dreadwind. "I'm the King of Down in the Dumps here!" Dr. Praxis stares at the open door for a few moments. "...I knew I forgot something. No matter! I shall spite you, even in defeat!" and the massive purple alien strikes a button labeled 'Escape pod'- and soon, his chair rockets him into a hatch- ostensibly, for an escape pod! And then...the mining station begins to rumble! "He's going to drop us in the antimatter core!" Transom says, forcing himself to transform and take up the controls. "QUickly, Autobots- get back to your spaceship and get out of here! I'll do what I can to bring down the forcefields and clear the way!" Dreadwind is struck in the mknee and wonders just what he did to deserve all this pain and then he remembers that he didn't have to do anything he exists and that is enough. "King? You wish to be a king? You have hopes dreams and yet you claim to know the depths of the dark, you know nothing of true suffering, but you will before your end." With that Dreadwind blasts back at Gears with his wrist weapons. The blow from Darkwing dents the side of Impactor's cybertronian looking Drill Tank mode, hurting a bit but a glancing blow at best. Catching the transmission from Transom and Eject, he quickly transforms and double-backs towards their shuttle and the forcefield cutting them off. Impactor swoops Eject up in one arm, the other firing back at the Decepticon. "You heard the bot guys, time to abandon planet!!" Pew Pew. The Drill Tank shifts and transforms, revealing the Wrecker leader Impactor! Clutch gets to the control room door just in time hear Transom volunteer to heroicly sacrifice his own life to give the other Autobots a chance to escape. "What...no wait, there's got to be another way!" Even as he's saying this, Clutch is edging back towards the hallway. As much as he'd like to take Transom's place, Clutch has never been on this mining facility and probably can't do nearly as much as the minibot with the controls. Impactor calling it seals the deal. "We'll remember you, Transom!" He transforms and barrels down the hallway, sides occasionally scraping the walls in a shower of sparks when the space narrows but racing back towards the shuttle to warm up the engines. "It's about time we blew this joint," Gears mutters as he heads back to the Autobot Shuttle. "Come on, let's get out of here before this thing blows and we're all melted down to scrap." Darkwing says, "I didn't think Wreckers were cowards. You run from battle, from pain and suffering? You fear death. And yet you really think you can win?" Darkwing luaghs loudly and fires toward the ceiling, hoping to cave in the pathway to the Autoobots shuttle and cut off their retreat. "Your only delayign your end Autobots!"" As the Autobots start to run for cover Dreadwind finally reaches the doorway and realises that he is too late as usual, which probably mean that Darkwing is going to make him pay for it later, probably by making him do something else. He does however radio a quick message to his partner, "Darkwing, it is too late this place is finished and we, we will not escape in one piece." He could run for it but instead decides to kneecap Transom and then returns to Darkwing so they can face the terrible end. "Don't worry about me!" Transom calls out, "I've been waiting to do this for a long damned time!" and the mining station begins to shudder and rumble as, one by one, the forcefields and anti-gravs give out, lowering the mining station closer and closer to the antimatter core of PLANET OMEGA! But as Darkwing fires- a forcefield snaps up in front of him, blocking off his assault of the fleeing Autobots! But then Transom gets a laser in the knee. "Agh! It's too late, Decepticreep! If those Autobots have any smarts, they'll be out of here by now!" Impactor enters the shuttle, dropping Eject near a passenger seat and getting his own towards the rear of the craft. "Buckle in 'Ject, gonna be a rough take off!" Darkwing says, "Yeah, I already figured that brother." He says with a deep growl as his attack is blocked. "Seems that little whelp you let escape is preventign me form taking the Autobots with us. Not that I should have expected any diffrently."" Clutch dives into the shuttle and vaults into the pilot's seat. He quickly begins the pre-flight launching procedure and then glances out the viewscreen. "Aw, screw it." Clutch just guns the engines and sends the shuttle hurtling to safety. With the forcefields going out, or at least most of them doing so there is a slim chance for the gloomicons, Dreadwind bemoans their fate, "Perhaps, but i ensured he is going nowhere, he is as doomed as this structure." Gears vaults into the co-pilot's seat. After all, he is space-flight certified. "Come on, come on, let's get going," he says. Darkwing says, "It is a shamme that there is no hope for this place. I was really looking forward to seeing it work. It might not have hit where I'd hope it would, but there would have at least been plenty of lives that would have been ruined." Darkwing says, as always seeing a somewhat postive spin on things. "At least this place's destruction will be grand in itself. The kind of end that would be fitting of us..." He replies as he makes his way down the hall to meet his brother, not in any real rush as the end will claim them one way or another." Physics lesson. When antimatter comes into contact with regular matter, it makes a *KABOOM* And when a great deal of antimatter (say, the core of PLANET OMEGA) comes into contact with a great deal of regular matter (Say, a mining station) it makes a very LARGE kaboom. And, true to Dr. Praxis' design, the explosion rocks the Omega system, culminating in a staggeringly gargantuan wave of destructive energy! ...one that's pointed AWAY from the galaxy, thankfully. Who knows what untold destruction could have been wreaked were it not for the brave efforts of those few Autobots! Soon, PLANET OMEGA is little more than an empty shell of shattered demi-matter, barely worthy of the excessive capitalization. Gears sighs in relief as they make their getaway. But then he raises his arm and a squeak is heard. "I KNEW it..." he mutters. Clutch flicks on the auto-pilot, then leans back in his chair, examining his damaged saber. "Who were those two Decepticons," he asks darkly. "I never got a clear look at either of them." After a second he sets the weapon down on the control panel. "They sure were a couple of downers though." Dreadwind feels the shudder of the building and the concussive wave of force, the almost unlimited destructive power wasted as it disappates into the nothingness, "Typical, this is what happens when you struggle and try, there is nothing but wasted effort and destruction, worst of all i meet my end with you, could it be any worse?" Dreadwind waits for existence to hear him and do something totally unexpected to eke a bit more suffering from him. Darkwing says, "Heh, Now that you said that, we're gonna survive this. You know that right? So that the Universe can cook up something worse to throw at us." Darkwing says as there is a burst in the wall that throws them out into space right before the explosion. "But at least your going to end up back in the medbay after this is over. Further proof that you shouldn't try."" Impactor relaxes in his seat, switching out his harpoon attachment for the regular hand. Not a bad job at all, seeing as the mining station got WRECKED on an SOS call. "I don't know, but /I/ felt like offing myself just to avoid another dull speech about suffering!" And yet...somehow...both Dreadwind and Darkwing still live! They're left drifting on a particularly sturdy bit of metal, floating aimlessly in the cosmos- looks like they've been blown clear of the blast...THIS TIME!